What was that THUD?
by Milady Montrose
Summary: One-Shot. Lapis and Peridot hear the sound of something crashing into the Barn, and call Steven to help them. Steven nearly freaks out when he sees the situation.


Steven arrived at the Barn. "What happened, Peridot?"

Peridot intercepted him. "A bird flew into the side of the Barn."

Steven gasped. "Oh, no! Where is it?"

Lapis and Peridot led Steven around, to the backside. A small black blob was several feet away, staring at the woodwork.

Steven approached, and the black blob became a brown blob, then became a very small bird. The bird stared at the woodwork.

Steven leaned in a little, curious. "I've never seen a bird up this close before." Peridot and Lapis joined him in looking at the bird.

The bird was about 6 inches long. Steven thought he saw a black chin, and a brown area right behind the bird's head. Its wings had an almost tortoiseshell-like pattern, as they were chestnut and black. The bird began to tilt its head. "It's a House Sparrow!" said Steven.

"Really?" asked Peridot. Steven nodded.

"So…should we keep it?" asked Peridot.

"Um…I think we should rescue it." Steven turned around. "He might have a family, and if we kept him…"

Peridot finished, "He'd never see them again."

"Huh." said Lapis, leaning over the bird. She gave it a hesitant poke.

"Eeee!" Steven squealed, alarming them all. "H-hold on, Lapis! I don't know how to rescue it, s-so let's think before doing something!"

"Oh." Lapis retracted her fingers, staring at the one which poked the bird. "Sorry."

"Oh, it's OK!" said Steven. "We'll have to touch it eventually, and you can do it when that happens!"

Peridot said, with a finger in the air, "Birds have hollow bones! A single misstep could crush them!"

Steven blinked. "Really? I thought bird bones were extra strong to make up for their hollowness."

Peridot frowned at the bird, sinking to her hands and knees. "More research is required."

Steven settled his chin on his fist. "Um, wait a moment! Let's look it up."

It took Steven a few minutes. In this time, the Sparrow began to chirp, and tilted its head more energetically, still staring at the barn's wood.

Steven read aloud, "Examine the bird for external injuries."

Peridot placed a finger on the bird's back. It ruffled a bit, but otherwise did nothing. After a moment, Peridot straightened. "I think none of its bones are broken. I didn't sense any metals out of place…"

Steven glanced at the bird. "Also, its wings are folded!"

"So…they're not broken," Lapis concluded.

"Now…we need to check the eyes to see if they're OK," read Steven.

"How do we do that?" asked Peridot. "I don't think I could stick my fingers in its eyes to check them out…"

"Um…maybe see if it's blinking?" said Steven hesitantly.

Lapis watched the bird. "It's blinking," she confirmed.

Steven sat down, and crouched near the bird. "Now we have to see if it can perch in a branch!"

Lapis watched as Steven crawled up to the bird. "Steven?"

"Yeah?" asked Steven, smiling up at them.

"Maybe you could use your healing spit?" she suggested.

Steven thought about that. "I don't think it's hurt, just stunned. But that's a good idea, Lapis!"

Lapis shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Steven stuck a finger in his mouth, then carefully brushed some spit on the House Sparrow's back. It shook its wings, and nothing else happened. Steven settled his fingers over the bird. As they closed and Steven began to scoop up the bird, it began to flutter around.

Steven's hands yanked back. The bird settled down, and did not fly away. "Did something happen, Steven?" asked Peridot urgently.

"Um, no." said Steven. "It just felt kind weird…its wings, I mean…"

"I'll do it!" said Peridot, glancing at Lapis. After she turned away a bit, Peridot mimicked Steven, placing her hands over the bird, enclosing it in darkness. Sweeping her palms underneath the bird, she picked it up as gently as she could. "Ta-da!" she showed her catch to an impressed Lapis and an anxious Steven.

Peridot tried to calm Steven. "Don't worry Steven! The bird's fine. We'll place it in a bush, a nice, comfy, dark bush, and when it recovers, it'll fly away!"

Steven nodded. The two followed Peridot to an appropriate bush.

"How does it feel?" asked Lapis.

"It's fluffy and scratchy at the same time," Peridot chuckled as she repositioned her fingers to leave the bird's feet dangling out. The feet were suspended in the air, like the bird was clutching an imaginary branch. Peridot hovered the bird over a branch with a good width.

The bird made no motions to grab the branch. "Um…" began Peridot. She gently pressed the bird's feet against the branch, and it grabbed it.

"Yes!" crowed Steven. Peridot slowly let go of the bird. The bird fluttered its wings, righting itself in the bush. The two Gems and the boy retreated a bit. "OK!" said Peridot. "Mission success!"

"Yay!" cried Steven, wiping sweat from his brow. "I'm glad we could help the bird."

"What if it's really hurt and we didn't notice?" asked Lapis, placing a damper on the excitement.

The damper was removed as Steven said, "We can check on the bird every five minutes to see if it flies away! It's nice and dark, and the bird should recover soon!"

Indeed, after an hour, the House Sparrow regained its senses, and flew away, like it hadn't smashed into the side of the Barn a couple of hours ago.


End file.
